[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 28 (Monday, February 12, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6546-6547]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-603]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


National Assessment Governing Board; Meeting

AGENCY: National Assessment Governing Board; Education.

ACTION: Notice of Open Meeting and Partially Closed Meetings.

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SUMMARY: The notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda of a 
forthcoming meeting of the National Assessment Governing Board. This 
notice also describes the functions of the Board. Notice of this 
meeting is required under Section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act. This document is intended to notify members of the 
general public of their opportunity to attend. Individuals who will 
need special accommodations in order to attend the meeting (i.e., 
interpreting services, assistive listening devices, materials in 
alternative format) should notify Munira Mwalimu at 202-357-6938 or at 
[email protected] no later than February 23, 2007. We will attempt 
to meet requests after this date, but cannot guarantee availability of 
the requested accommodation. The meeting site is accessible to 
individuals with disabilities.

DATES: March 1-3, 2007.

Times:

March 1

    Committee Meetings:
    Assessment Development Committee: Closed Session--9 a.m. to 4 p.m.;
    Reporting and Dissemination Committee: Open Session--3 p.m. to 4:30 
p.m.;
    Executive Committee: Open Session--4:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Closed 
Session 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

March 2

    Full Board: Open Session--8:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.; Closed Session--
12:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.; Open Session--1:45 p.m. to 3 p.m.; Closed 
Session--3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
    Committee Meetings:
    Assessment Development Committee: Open Session--9:45 a.m. to 12:15 
p.m;
    Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology: Open Session--9:45 
a.m. to 12:15 p.m.;
    Reporting and Dissemination Committee: Open Session--9:45 a.m. to 
12:15 p.m.;

March 3

    Nominations Committee: Closed Session--7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
    Full Board: Closed Session--9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.; Open Session--9:30 
a.m. to 12 p.m.
    Location: The Loews Vanderbilt Hotel, 2100 West End Avenue, 
Nashville, TN 37203.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Munira Mwalimu, Operations Officer, 
National Assessment Governing Board, 800 North Capitol Street, NW., 
Suite 825, Washington, DC 20002-4233, Telephone (202) 357-6938.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Assessment Governing Board is 
established under section 412 of the National Education Statistics Act 
of 1994, as amended.
    The Board is established to formulate policy guidelines for the 
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The Board's 
responsibilities include selecting subject areas to be assessed, 
developing assessment objectives, developing appropriate student 
achievement levels for each grade and subject tested, developing 
guidelines for reporting and disseminating results, and developing 
standards and procedures for interstate and national corporations.
    The Assessment Development Committee will meet in closed session on 
March 1 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to review secure test questions for the 
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading and 
mathematics NAEP Long-term Trend assessments conducted at ages 9, 13, 
and 17 in 2008. The meeting must be conducted in closed session as 
disclosure of proposed test items for the reading and mathematics 
assessments would significantly impede implementation of the NAEP 
program, and is therefore protected by exemption 9(B) of section 
552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    The Reporting and Dissemination Committee will meet in open session 
on March 1 from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thereafter the Executive Committee 
will meet in open session from 4:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. The Committee will 
meet in closed session from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. to receive independent 
government cost estimates from the National Center for Education 
Statistics (NCES), for proposed contracts for item development, data 
collection, scoring and analysis, and reporting of NAEP results for 
2007-2012, and their implications on future NAEP activities.

[[Page 6547]]

The discussion of independent government cost estimates prior to the 
development of the Request for Proposals for the NAEP 2007-2012 
contracts is necessary for ensuring that NAEP contracts meet 
congressionally mandated goals and adhere to Board policies on NAEP 
assessments. This part of the meeting must be conducted in closed 
session because public disclosure of this information would likely have 
an adverse financial effect on the NAEP program and would provide an 
advantage to potential bidders attending the meeting. Discussion of 
this information would be likely to significantly impede implementation 
of a proposed agency action if conducted in open session. Such matters 
are protected by exemption 9(B) of section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    On March 2, the full Board will meet in open session from 8:30 a.m. 
to 12:15 p.m. From 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. the Board will approve the 
agenda, followed by welcome remarks and Oath of Office ceremonies for 
new Board members. The Board will then receive the Executive Director's 
report and hear an update on the work of the National Center for 
Education Statistics (NCES).
    From 9:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on March 2, the Board's standing 
committees--the Assessment Development Committee; the Committee on 
Standards, Design and Methodology; and the Reporting and Dissemination 
Committee--will meet in open session.
    On March 2, the full Board will meet in closed session from 12:15 
p.m. to 1:45 p.m. The Board will receive a briefing provided by the 
Associate Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics 
on secure national student achievement data related to upcoming NAEP 
reports, including results for the 2006 assessments in U.S. history and 
in civics, and a report comparing NAEP and state proficiency standards. 
The Governing Board will be provided with embargoed data that cannot be 
discussed in an open meeting prior to their official release. The 
meeting must therefore be conducted in closed session as disclosure of 
data would significantly impede implementation of The Nation's Report 
Card initial release activities, as protected by exemption 9(B) of 
section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    On March 2 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. the Board will discuss and take 
action on the NAEP 2011 Writing Framework. Thereafter, the full Board 
will meet in closed session from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. to receive a secure 
briefing on the pilot study results from the 2006 NAEP Economics 
Achievement Level Setting for Grade 12. This briefing will involve 
discussion of secure NAEP performance results, achievement level 
findings from the pilot study, and secure NAEP questions. These data 
constitute a major basis for the national release of the NAEP Grade 12 
Economics results, and cannot be released in an open meeting prior to 
the official release of the reports. The meeting must therefore be 
conducted in closed session as disclosure of data would significantly 
impede implementation of the NAEP release activities, and is therefore 
protected by exemption 9(B) of section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    On March 3, the Nominations Committee will meet in closed session 
from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. to review and discuss confidential 
information regarding nominees received for Board vacancies for terms 
beginning on October 1, 2007. The Nominations Committee will prepare a 
final slate of candidates for each Board vacancy and make 
recommendations to the full Board. The full Board will then consider 
these nominations in closed session on March 3 from 9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. 
During this closed session, the full Board will review and take action 
on the final slate of candidates for open Board positions. After 
review, the Board will submit the recommended candidates to the 
Secretary of Education for her review and action. These discussions 
pertain solely to internal personnel rules and practices for an agency 
and will disclose information of a personal nature where disclosure 
would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. As such, 
the discussions are protected by exemptions 2 and 6 of section 552b(c) 
of Title 5 U.S.C.
    The full Board will meet in open session on March 3 from 9:30 a.m. 
to 12 noon. From 9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. the Board will discuss academic 
standards initiatives. Board actions on policies and Committee reports 
are scheduled to take place between 10:15 a.m. and 12 p.m., upon which 
the March 3, 2007 session of the Board meeting will adjourn.
    Detailed minutes of the meeting, including summaries of the 
activities of the closed sessions and related matters that are 
informative to the public and consistent with the policy of section 5 
U.S.C. 552b(c) will be available to the public within 14 days of the 
meeting. Records are kept of all Board proceedings and are available 
for public inspection at the U.S. Department of Education. National 
Assessment Governing Board, Suite 825, 800 North Capitol 
Street, NW., Washington, DC, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Standard 
Time.

    Dated: February 6, 2007.
Charles E. Smith,
Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board.
[FR Doc. 07-603 Filed 2-9-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-M